Luck played its part, Evans

Manager Steve Evans admitted his side were fortunate to advance into the area semi-final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy following a 2-1 victory against Hartlepool United.

Tom Eaves headed his first goal for the club, and Kieran Agard deflected home Lee Frecklington’s strike to seal the win at Victoria Park and put the Millers’ name in the hat for the next round.

“I think luck played its part in us getting a win tonight, we won’t kid ourselves as they played us off the park at times,” Evans told Millers Player. “We showed great effort and desire in the last 15 minutes after our performance was poor, our ball retention was poor and our whole defence and shape didn’t look right tonight.”

Andy Monkhouse levelled for Pools to get the game back level but it wasn’t enough for the home side who had countless chances only to rattle the woodwork and be denied by Adam Collin on several occasions.

“Hartlepool are a club in fine form and you can see why but we’ve come here and limped through to the next round. If I’m being honest I think Saturday’s display against Bradford played a part in that, some players still looked fatigued. It’s not an excuse but these players are known for their hard work and battling on the front foot which they haven’t really done tonight against a Hartlepool team with good players.”